In the WWE it is pretty obvious who your champions are going to be. Sure there are occasional suprises like Sheamus, but most of the time you can tell whos next in line. They usually start with a slow build by winning a midcard title and then having at least one feud with a main eventer before the push to the top of the mountain begins. With the money in the bank briefcase, it is almost guarenteed who the next champion will be. However, there have been a few instances where people who were "guarenteed" to hold the belt never did. Im not talking about guys like Christian or Roddy Piper who everyone says should of been champion, im talking about guys that we were lead to belive would be champion and it never happened. In the past 25 years of the WWE I can only think of two people who fit this catagory
Lex Lugar: In 1993 the WWE started to push Lex Lugar to the moon. They choppered him in to an aircraft carrier to bodyslam Yokozuna in an event with all sorts of media and pro athlets. After that, they sent him on a tour of the US on his own Lex Express to build up for his massive showdown with Yokozuna at Summerslam. Everyone thought he was going to walk out of there the champion. He was the patriotic young superman with the red, white, and blue trunks facing an evil foreign menace that was getting booed out of buildning. Shockingly he won the match in an incredibly lame count out. They countined this feud for months leading to Lex beating the odds to get his rematch by winning the Royal Rumble. He was set to beat Yoko at mania and Ive heard they even shot some TV tapings with him holding the belt. Rumor has it that he got drunk and told a reporter that he was going to be the new champ and WWE nipped it in the bud and put the title on Hart.
Mr. Kennedy: In recent years there has been no other superstar as primed for championship glory as Ken Kennedy. He was given and huge push that resulted in him getting wins over 5 or 6 former world champions in a row. Next he won the money in the back ladder match at Wrestlemania. This absolutly screams next world champion. Keep in mind, 3 years after Kennedy won the briefcase, we still havent had someone fail to cash it in. Unfortunatly, he got hurt and lost his case to Edge. After comming back he was set up to be part of the biggest angel in years and be revield as Mr. McMahons son. Ive read that he was going to take the angel through Wrestlemania and have a match with Triple H. This time, he was listed in a report claiming to get illegal steriods throught the mail and was suspended, resulting the the horrible Hornswaggel McMahon storyline. He eventually came back one more time and was released.
Like I said, these are the two people in the history of the company that everyone assumed would be would champions. Not by how good they were or how over with the crowd, but by the things that the WWE itself did to push them to the top. Can anyone think of any other wrestler that was in a situation like this and never got the strap.
Lex Lugar: In 1993 the WWE started to push Lex Lugar to the moon. They choppered him in to an aircraft carrier to bodyslam Yokozuna in an event with all sorts of media and pro athlets. After that, they sent him on a tour of the US on his own Lex Express to build up for his massive showdown with Yokozuna at Summerslam. Everyone thought he was going to walk out of there the champion. He was the patriotic young superman with the red, white, and blue trunks facing an evil foreign menace that was getting booed out of buildning. Shockingly he won the match in an incredibly lame count out. They countined this feud for months leading to Lex beating the odds to get his rematch by winning the Royal Rumble. He was set to beat Yoko at mania and Ive heard they even shot some TV tapings with him holding the belt. Rumor has it that he got drunk and told a reporter that he was going to be the new champ and WWE nipped it in the bud and put the title on Hart.
Mr. Kennedy: In recent years there has been no other superstar as primed for championship glory as Ken Kennedy. He was given and huge push that resulted in him getting wins over 5 or 6 former world champions in a row. Next he won the money in the back ladder match at Wrestlemania. This absolutly screams next world champion. Keep in mind, 3 years after Kennedy won the briefcase, we still havent had someone fail to cash it in. Unfortunatly, he got hurt and lost his case to Edge. After comming back he was set up to be part of the biggest angel in years and be revield as Mr. McMahons son. Ive read that he was going to take the angel through Wrestlemania and have a match with Triple H. This time, he was listed in a report claiming to get illegal steriods throught the mail and was suspended, resulting the the horrible Hornswaggel McMahon storyline. He eventually came back one more time and was released.
Like I said, these are the two people in the history of the company that everyone assumed would be would champions. Not by how good they were or how over with the crowd, but by the things that the WWE itself did to push them to the top. Can anyone think of any other wrestler that was in a situation like this and never got the strap.